Thinking about voice

This page is to help you thinking about voice, and finding your own voice.

The two videos on the Introduction to making radio page may be useful in thinking about finding your voice, and following your interests. Here they are again…

How to ‘speak’ on radio

One of the great things about community radio organisations is the amount of freedom you get to speak as yourself and to talk about your own interests and passions.

You don’t have to always ‘speak properly’ like you might have to at school or in formal situations. However you do need to make sure that your listeners can hear and understand you. One of the best things about community radio is that it doesn’t sound like the BBC but reflects the wide variety of different voices within your community.

Community radio organisations must also make sure they are catering for the local community (or the community of interest) that the organisation serves and broadcasts to. Therefore content and the ‘voice’ that you adopt should be relevant to the community. Speaking in your own accent and dialect is usually fine – although there may be instances when it is necessary for you to adopt a different kind of voice. Becoming aware of how you might adopt different voices for particular purposes or audiences is a key skill that you can develop through becoming a young broadcaster.

You may need to speak to people such as politicians, head teachers or other people in positions of authority as part of your radio work. Try not to be overwhelmed, and remember that you have important views and ideas that are often original and different to the views expressed in the mainstream media. See these different views as a strength to draw on in order to make great radio!

Do

be clear who your audience is and speak appropriately

speak clearly enough for people to understand you

listen carefully to people you invite on air and respond to them

BE YOURSELF

be confident about your views and opinions

consider the different voices you might adopt for different purposes

Don’t

feel you need to adopt a ‘posh’ accent or speak in a way that doesn’t come naturally to you

feel you need to talk or present in the same way that you hear on commercial and public service broadcasting

be daunted when speaking to people in positions of authority. As a broadcaster you have power!